Just a “moratorium” for library construction in Leipzig

The library announced last week that Weimer had decided against building the extension. This should create long-term space to store books and other media. This is the mission of the German National Library with its locations in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. According to management, the magazine capacities in Leipzig are almost exhausted. According to official information, around seven million euros have already been invested in the planning of the extension. According to Weimer, the construction itself would have a total cost of more than 100 million euros.

“There is now a broad consensus”

The General Director of the National Library, Frank Scholze, was quoted in Weimer’s statement as saying: “We very much welcome the State Minister’s decision to take the next step towards realizing the construction.” It is a legal mandate and a responsibility for society as a whole to preserve the cultural heritage in the “memory of the nation”. “The fact that there is now a broad consensus on this with the State Minister and the public is an encouraging sign for the future of our country,” explained Scholze.

Weimer himself explained: “Of course, the federal government is and remains committed to the German National Library as a treasury of our written cultural heritage, as well as to its location in Leipzig.” In the future, the possibilities of digitalization will also be used more extensively when implementing the collection order. But we will “work together to ensure the preservation of incoming physical media works in the future.”

The clarification comes after days of criticism. Weimer explained through a spokesman last week: “In principle, State Minister Weimer aims to have the mandatory delivery to the German National Library represented digitally as far as possible in the future.”